Mikko Keskiivari’s Wanderers
is a film that seeks to “remind us about the significance of the things that
have a huge impact on our lives even though we don’t normally notice them or
pay attention to them.” The piece was
filmed through the eye of a microscope, featuring the movements of zooplankton
in a petri dish. Its audio is comprised
of a layered collection of sounds that add drama to the mesmerizing movements
of the starring microbes. Wanderers is part of the Netherlands
Film Academy’s 2016 graduation show. The
Netherlands Film Academy, located at Markenplein 1, Amsterdam, was established
in 1958. The graduation show, entitled Conditions of Possibility, features the
final film projects of each Masters of Film graduate, totaling 10 films in all.
The show is co-sponsored by the neighboring EYE Film Institute, located at
IJpromenade 1, Amsterdam.
Mikko Keskiivari is a Finnish media artist and filmmaker,
currently living and working in Amsterdam.
He graduated from the Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2011
with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, which focused on cinematic media art. Throughout the duration of the Master of Film
program he explored ideas of scaling, distance, and perception as practical
artistic tools, but also as “existential subjects.”
The film Wanderers
is a unique and engrossing visual experience.
Audience members lie on their backs and look up at the film, which is projected
onto the ceiling. The image displayed is
circular, mimicking the shape of a petri dish.
Filmed through the lens of a microscope, the audience watches the movements
of various magnified zooplankton they move through their environment. In turn,
viewers viscerally feel as if it is they who are in a petri dish.
The cinematography of the film mimics the movements of the
zooplankton. The lens focuses in and out
rhythmically, so that the image pulsates.
In turn, the gaze of the viewer changes from pin-sharp to fuzzy. In one shot, viewers can see the cells
pumping through the veins of one microscopic creature. The creature’s organs move rhythmically. By virtue of this rhythmic change in focus, the
camera’s gaze seems lifelike, almost as if the viewer is a creature whose seeing
is obscured in time with its own pumping lifeblood.
Each scene is comprised of static, continuous shots, similar
to those used in documentary. The
organic subjects of the film move freely within and through the static shot.
Thus, viewers experience the unfolding of the plankton’s movements organically.
Shots are sequenced to elevate the zooplankton from
documentary subjects to characters in a narrative. In the opening shot of the film, small white
plankton float in a light blue background.
Their movements are peaceful.
Their bodies resemble small jellyfish, moving with the tide. The viewer becomes acclimated to the peaceful
mood of this scene. But the tranquility
is then disrupted by a cut to a different zooplankton creature, which resembles
a large brown worm. Compositionally, the
worm-like plankton is centered and fills most of the screen.
It is brown and moves in jerky, aggressive motions. It is has a dull, beige background. Its presence is threatening. After a continuous shot of the worm, there is
a cut back to the blue, jellyfish-like plankton. The compositions of the shots depicting each
subject are in stark contrast. Whereas the worm-like plankton took up much of
the screen, the jellyfish-like plankton are dispersed as small points
throughout the screen. Following shots
show the worm moving through the environment, sucking up surrounding plankton. It immediately becomes apparent that the
jellyfish-like plankton are in danger.
It is a testament to the cinematography of the film that throughout this
sequence, a viewer’s suspension of disbelief is not broken. Instead, viewers are perturbed by, and
invested in, the fates of these tiny microbes.
The worm-like plankton takes the role of a villain, whereas the
jellyfish-like plankton become the innocent, unassuming victims. The raw, practically scientific film is
masterfully presented as drama.
This drama is aided by layered sound design. In the first shots featuring the
jellyfish-like plankton, soft piano music plays. Subsequently, cuts to the worm-like plankton
are accompanied by deep dissonant chaotic sound. As the worm-like plankton advances, the deep
chaotic sound continues. In subsequent
shots of the jellyfish-like plankton, their light piano music is replaced by
the chaotic sound, indicating that they are in danger, building suspense. In a conversation with the Keskiivari, he
identified some of components of the light, tranquil sound, which included
piano and the singing of church choirs.
Meanwhile, the deep, chaotic sound that backs the worm-like plankton includes
chains being rattled, garbage cans being dumped, construction sites, and by the
distorted sound of an engine. Together,
the controlled sequencing of shots and its accompanying sound design result in
a familiar battle between good and evil, played out on a microbial scale.
In all, Wanderers is
an accomplishment in the realm of experimental film. Keskiivari took a documentarian’s approach
when collecting film—he gathered water from Amsterdam’s canals, put it under a
microscope, and filmed what happened.
His raw film was escalated to the realm of drama, gaining a plot and
characters, by means of careful editing.
However, there are some caveats to his success. For one, while the sound design was effective
in establishing a plot, it was heavy handed.
The mere sight of villainous worm-like zooplankton was enough to inspire
fear in the audience—blasting deep tones at a high volume lacked nuance. In addition, there was a good deal of
dissonance between the organic subjects and their associated inorganic
sounds. It might have been more
interesting to imagine how sound is perceived on a microscopic level, rather
than imposing the human-scale sounds of life.
However, overall, this film was a
standout piece within the larger exhibition of films. Its organic subject matter was novel and
inventive. By showing life otherwise
invisible on the large screen, viewers gained the novel experience of watching
and becoming a creature in a petri dish.
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